The Candidates and the World

In a speech in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) again attacked proposals for a gas tax holiday. Obama said he, like Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), favors a windfall profits tax on oil companies, and that he would “invest that money in clean, affordable, renewable sources of energy like wind power, and solar power, and biofuels, so that we’re not here talking about high gas prices next summer, and the summer after that, and five summers after that.”

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) on Monday released a plan to combat record high gas prices. According to the plan, Clinton would file a complaint with the World Trade Organization against OPEC countries to pressure them to up oil production. She would also stop new additions to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and be ready to “release oil to counter market spikes and reduce volatility.”

“It’s time for aggressive diplomacy that verifiably ends North Korea’s nuclear programs and accounts for all its proliferation activities. Until we are able to confirm that North Korea is no longer in the nuclear proliferation business, the United States should not lift sanctions on Pyongyang.”

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) outlined her plan to strengthen the U.S. military in a press release Thursday. Her agenda includes ending the stop-loss policy that obliges soldiers to stay in the military for multiple tours of duty. She also intends to create a “GI Bill for the 21st Century” that would offer expanded benefits to veterans, as well as a program that would provide veterans with “no-collateral, low-interest microloans of up to $100,000 for entrepreneurial ventures.”

TIME takes a look at the promotion of the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and the intersection with the presidential campaign. To begin with, Democratic candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), who have called for a major troop withdrawal from Iraq, will need to vote in the coming weeks on Petraeus’ promotion to head Centcom, the U.S. strategic command for the Middle East region. His presence will also raise questions about the long-term prospects for the surge strategy in Iraq as well as counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan.

In Pennsylvania’s Democratic presidential primary Tuesday, won by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), exit polls showed voters overwhelmingly see the country as in recession and view the economy as their top concern. Both Clinton and rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) in their campaigning were critical of the impact of free trade agreements, especially the North American Free Trade Agreement. Those exit polled gave Clinton the edge as most capable of repairing the economy (CNN). Obama still retains the edge in delegate counting and the contest will continue with May 6 primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) head into a much-awaited Pennsylvania primary today. The Washington Post looks at the candidates’ final pitches ahead of the vote, with Clinton hoping for a wide-margin win, and Obama, who leads in the delegate count, hoping to keep things close or pull off a surprise victory. RealClearPolitics surveys the most recent polls in the state.

In campaigning for the Democratic Party’s Pennsylvania presidential primary, now just a day away, trade and globalization’s impact on manufacturing America has become a central issue. The St. Louis Post-Dispatchreports on how Chinese competition in steel production reflects on this debate.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told Bloomberg Television he would support a Senate cap-and-trade bill on reducing greenhouse gas emissions only if there is an increased role for nuclear power. He said: “Nuclear power has to be an important part of the actions to reduce greenhouse gases.”